Virgil's Special Edition Bavarian Nutmeg root beer

Background information: (from the website): "This Special Edition of Virgil’s Bavarian Nutmeg is imported from Bavaria and produced with swing-top pint size bottles. Virgil’s is a gourmet root beer. We’re what Ben and Jerry’s is to ice cream, what Dom Perignon is to champagne.

We’re a micro-brewed root beer made with all-natural ingredients. We use herbs imported from around the world and unbleached pure cane sugar.

Virgil’s Microbrewed Root Beer contains these key all-natural ingredients:

carbonated water

unbleached cane sugar

Along with these natural herbs and spices (including point of origin):

anise from Spain

licorice from France

vanilla (bourbon) from Madagascar

cinnamon from Ceylon

clove from Indonesia

wintergreen from China

sweet birch from the southern US

molasses from the US

nutmeg from Indonesia

pimento berry oil from Jamaica

balsam oil from Peru

cassia oil from China

Gluten Free. No Preservatives, No Caffeine, No GMO’s, and No artificial anything! Some root beers claim to be “cold-brewed”. This is merely another term for the filtering process that yields common soda. Even so-called premium root beers like Stewarts, IBC and Weinhard’s are not hand crafted brews like Virgil’s. Only Virgil’s Microbrewed Root Beer is truly “brewed”."

(from the bottle): "Virgil's is a superb blend of spices and herbs gathered from the world over; anise, licorice, vanilla, cinnamon, clove, wintergreen, sweet birch, molasses, nutmeg, pimento berry oil, balsam oil and cassia oil."


Product details: 16.9 fl. oz.  REED's Inc, L.A., CA 90061. (800) 99-REEDS.   214 calories, 28g sugar. Glass bottle with lever activated rubber-stopper top.  http://www.virgils.com


Ingredients: Purified carbonated water, cane sugar, natural flavors, citric acid, herbs and spices.


My thoughts: This is a big bottle of root beer (16.9 oz vs 12 oz).  And the ingenious sealing mechanism for the lid is fun.  But does that translate to a good root beer?  Read on.

This is a hearty root beer.  There is a nice strong rooty flavor right off the bat, but mixed in is a very noticeable note of licorice or anise.  I like to taste my root beers before looking at the ingredient list, so as to not alter my perceptions by anticipating certain flavors.  So I was happy to see that my tongue wasn't lying and both licorice and anise were on the menu.  The aftertaste has lingering licorice/anise as well, but the vanilla makes itself known and, while the ingredients say it has wintergreen, I didn't notice it until reading the label and sampling it once again, as the wintergreen is extremely subtle.  There are a few other spices listed, but none of them made themselves known to my tastebuds in any distinguishing manner.

This drink goes down nice and smooth.  The mix of spices makes it soothing and the moderate amount of under-carbonation certainly helps in this aspect, but I would certainly trade some of the smoothness for a bit more carbonation bite.  Sugar-wise, I'm quite pleased with this root beer.  It may be ever so slightly too sweet, but nothing that detracts too much from the enjoyement.

Overall, a pretty good root beer.  I didn't notice the nutmeg contributing much, despite the prominence on the bottle.  Maybe I just got a bottle that was a little flat, but it could certainly use some help in the carbonation department and would make this a much better root beer overall.  The score is mostly saved by the mix of spices, though the licorice/anise could be toned down a notch or two.


Rating: B-
flavor: B
aftertaste: B+
sweetness: B
smoothness: A-
carbonation: D+

Virgil's root beer

Background information: (from the website) "REEDS, Inc. is making extraordinary beverages and confections using very old-fashioned, natural methods and wholesome, fresh ingredients. We are a growing family of passionate entrepreneurs who have developed food and drink, which in our opinion exceed any products within their categories in taste, quality and imagination, as we are certain you noticed by now!"

(from the bottle label) "Micro brewed with 100% natural ingredients imported from all corners of the world.  Originally brewed in the north of England, Virgil's is made with natural ingredients - nutmeg, imported anise, and wintergreen.  The brewing process gives Virgil's a rich, creamy body and a taste so pure, you'll swear it's made in heaven."

(also from the bottle label) "Made Naturally, For The Root Beer Connoisseur".  Virgil's is a superb blend of spices and herbs gathered from the world over; anise, licorice, vanilla (bourbon), cinnamon, clove, wintergreen, sweet birch, molasses, nutmeg, pimento berry oil, balsam oil and cassia oil."


Product details: 12 fl. oz.  Manufactured by REED's Inc., Los Angeles, CA 90061.  160 calories, 42g sugar.  Glass bottle with twist off top.  www.Virgils.com


Ingredients: Purified carbonated water; unbleached cane sugar; caramelized unrefined cane sugar; citric acid, herbs and spices!


My thoughts: A very interesting, not particularly "root beer" flavor up front that is very natural tasting, which may be in part due to their claimed "no preservatives, no caffeine and no artificial anything."  I like my root beer, however, to taste like root beer, so the initial flavor is a tad underwhelming.  This drink has a lot going on.  It is quite smooth and creamy, but part of that feel may be from the under-carbonation, leaving the drink a bit flat.  This flatness likely also contributes to the lack of froth.  The aftertaste is a bit difficult to pin down, as there are a lot of spices at work (see background information above).  While the smörgåsbord of flavors sounds exquisite in theory, in practice it fails to tantalize the tastebuds as much as I had hoped.  I can certainly detect a minutiae of wintergreen (which I like) as well as shades of licorice (which I tend to like less).  In the end, I felt that it was trying to do too much and accomplished too little.  I will admit that as I reached the end of the bottle, the flavor had grown on me a little bit more and after finishing it off, I had a mild, but pleasant 'minty' sensation in my mouth.  Perhaps if they could dial up the carbonation a little bit more, then this would be a higher caliber soda.


Rating: B-
flavor: C+
aftertaste: B
sweetness: A
smoothness: B+
carbonation: D+